Sidewalks
by Aitri
Summary: It's funny how a single person can change everything.  Matt finds his life falling apart after meeting a curious stranger.  Mixing into issues that aren't his own he discovers that sometimes it's best to just not get involved.  AU
1. Shutterfield Mercy House

**Author's Note** – I just can't leave this fandom alone, can I? Suppose I should tell you how this story was born. A few weeks ago I was in Kansas City, staring at the beautiful urban photo opportunities from inside the car. Something about the littered streets and graffiti-stained buildings inspired me so as soon as I got back home I was on the computer, writing. I'm too in love with the characters from HIC to give the story to another fandom, so I decided to try my luck with an AU. This will be very AU, so be warned. But I did my best to keep the personalities of the characters as intact as possible.

I will try my hardest to update as quickly as possible, just know that school and my job keep me busy.

Hope you enjoy and never be too shy to drop a review. :)

**Sidewalks**

Chapter One

Shutterfield Mercy House

_March 18th, 1987_

Matthew Campbell despised mornings.

Brown hair askew and gray eyes sullen he sat perched upon the front porch of his home, one leg drawn close to his chest while the other hung limply from the wood railing. The early light painted the neighborhood with pastel colors that cast a pleasing tone over the rundown houses, settling an illusion that downtown Bridgeport was actually a favorable place to be.

Matt had lived here his entire life, born into a low-income family and raised in the frugal lifestyle without complaint. He was accustomed to the cheap life and there were never any thoughts on his mind that it would ever change. The house he currently reposed against was his own, well, at least half of it. Two stories with muted white paint that curled up in peeling strips from the outside walls, it wasn't a spectacular piece of architecture, but it was home. The first floor belonged to his own family, but the second was the home of the Jennings. The Campbells rarely had issues with the fellow family but there was always a harsh tension that hung thick in the air when Mr. and Mrs. Jennings could be heard arguing loudly above. Those were the times when Wendy and Mary would come downstairs to visit. It had taken a few months for Matt to warm up to the girls, his only positive outlook on them being that maybe his younger brother Billy wouldn't bother him as much now that he had a new friend. But after three years of numerous nights spent with Wendy and Mary Matt eventually considered them friends and then finally acknowledged them as siblings, an instinctive protectiveness dwelling between all of them.

Twenty till eight. Matt's jaw clicked as he yawned, the bones in his legs popping loudly as he stretched them. He hated mornings, but he couldn't ignore this one. He swung his legs from the banister and padded down the concrete steps leading to the street, taking a deep breath of the frigid morning air before setting off down the sidewalk. Hands in his pockets and head bowed he trudged on in silence, gray eyes focused on his shoes. This was the route he walked each Saturday. Every intricate detail was memorized from the smell of the bushes to the spider web of cracks in the pavement. Despite the hum of occasional cars passing by there were few sounds to distract.

Maybe that was one good thing about morning.

It was quiet.

At home, Matt had precious little time to just relax and ponder over things that didn't matter. On the fifteen-minute walk to Shutterfield he could let his mind wander, become ignorant to reality and pretend that there was no world to worry about. No responsibility. No other person but himself.

Ten minutes…

Fifteen.

"Campbell!" Time was up. Matt pulled his head up slowly, squinting past the morning sun to the silhouette calling to him from across the street. He slipped a hand from his hoodie pocket and shaded his eyes, letting the figure's features become clear as he walked closer. It was a man, two heads taller than himself with a blunt face accented by wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. In his left hand he loosely gripped a smoking cigarette, bringing to his lips as soon as Matt came near. The man, known as Keith, inhaled the toxic mix and a deep chuckle rumbled from his chest as his dark brown eyes roved over the young Campbell. "Every Saturday at nine. You're quite consistent."

"Yeah."

"Reluctant but ready." Another petulant laugh slipped from his mouth. "Shit-load of work today, so wake up. Allison has your assignments inside." Matt lifted his eyes to the building they were standing outside of; a reputable brick monument decorated with graffiti and dirt that cast a hefty shadow across the street. The back door was a pitiful thing, a flimsy and splintered board of wood hanging from crooked hinges. But it did its job. Above it hung a small wooden sign from a rusted nail, three words painted onto it with care.

_Shutterfield Mercy House_

"Go on." Keith wrapped his fingers around the handle of the door and with some difficulty thrust it open, ushering Matt through the threshold. Once inside, the familiar scent of vomit and hand sanitizer assaulted the teenager's senses but after being in the shelter weekly he had become used the stench so his sense of smell quickly adjusted. He crossed through the kitchen, narrowly avoiding the bustling workers as they struggled to maintain some level of order. Allison could be seen by one of the serving stations but before Matt could get near a pair of thin arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and pulled him back. The sudden weight of a body behind him upset his balance and he barely just managed to grab onto a counter before he could be brought to the ground, coughing when the arms slipped up to his neck before releasing.

"Thank God you're here! There's so much to do and half the volunteers haven't even shown up yet. You can't imagine how much vomit and piss there is in the main hall." The low scratchy tone was easily recognizable.

"Nice to see you too, Jamie." Matt spun on his heel to face the girl. She looked back at him with a toothy grin, hands stuffed into the pockets of her oversized jeans and feet shuffling awkwardly on the tile floor. Her messy blonde hair was pulled back into a bun to fully reveal her dull hazel eyes and shallow cheeks spattered with freckles that extended across her upturned nose.

"Allison assigned you with me. We have to shoo out the hangover's from St. Patty's Day and clean up their mess."

"That's nice." Matt responded as two buckets were shoved into his hands; one filled with water and the other with rags. Jamie shouldered a mop and walked alongside him into the main hall, chatting amiably.

"You should've been here last night. I swear we've never had so many people. All the cots were filled and half of the people kept falling out of them," she laughed, "they were so juiced!" The mop was brought down from her shoulder and she motioned for Matt to set down the bucket filled with water. He complied and took a rag from the second bucket, dousing it in the liquid before going to work off a spot of vomit on one of the cots. There were sixty cots total in the shelter, organized neatly in three rows of twenty. The second section of the main hall consisted of the dining tables and benches; four of them already halfway filled with the morning usuals.

"Ugh, grody." Jamie scrubbed furiously at a urine stain on the tile, her face twisted upwards in whether concentration or repulsion Matt couldn't tell. He scratched absent-mindedly at an itch on the back of his neck and yawned, moving onto the next cot with lazy steps. He heard Jamie laugh behind him and turned.

"What?"

"You awake yet, spangler? You're lookin' a little tired there," she leaned on the mop, one hand placed meticulously on her hip while her eyes roved over his form, "and skinny too. Getting ready for a pageant?"

"… … Sure." Matt's response produced another laugh from Jamie. A breath slipped past his lips and he turned to resume wiping down the cots with furious scrubbing. The buzz of conversations eventually put him at ease and he was able to adjust to a calm routine of cleaning and ignore Jamie's sly comments. She stopped altogether upon realizing that he wasn't listening. Some of the people in the dining hall would cast a glance towards the volunteers, only a few actually smiling at Matt. He was relatively new and even though most of the members warmed up to fresh volunteers easily there were others who were still wary. He got used to that.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"We're fine, thank you." A smooth tone, manipulative, new, and strangely unsettling. Matt snuck a furtive glance towards Jamie, watching as she struggled to stand responsibly under the frame of an impressive figure. It was man that stood before her, well dressed with an air of superiority that he easily boasted across the room. He stood rigidly straight as if there was an iron bar welded into his spine. A pair of spectacles perched on the tip of his nose flashed the florescent light from above, making it near impossible to make out where his gaze rested. Matt had never seen him before but the presence he brought to the room made the teenager shiver.

"Well-" Jamie swallowed before continuing, "The kitchen is open so if you guys are hungry help yourselves. If you're hoping to volunteer see, uh, Allison. She's over there." The man thanked Jamie and trudged past, patting her shoulder as he crossed. She blanched at the touch. Once the man was out of earshot she skidded over to Matt.

"I think I just shit myself." She muttered. "I turned around and he was just standing there, lookin' at me like he was ready to snuff me. Did you see his eyes?"

"No."

"Dead, man, like a scarecrow's. And that kid!"

"There was a kid with him?" Matt turned to look but before he could spot the stranger Jamie grabbed onto his shoulder and spun him back to her, shaking her head furiously.

"Just ignore it… That man has serious power. I don't know over what, but he seems legit." She released her grip on his shoulder and exhaled, gripping the mop with shaky hands. "Jus' keep working." Matt made as if to respond but his mouth was dry and only a breath escaped. He nodded, licked his lips, and scooped another rag from the bucket. Jamie smiled at him approvingly (a fake smile, but he accepted it nonetheless) and turned to leave.

"Jamie," his voice called out scratchily before she could get too far.

"Yeah?"

"What did he look like? … The kid?"

A few moments before the response:

"Young. Dark hair… Pale… He had the bluest eyes I've ever seen."


	2. Mint Chocolate Chip

**Author's Note** – Don't hate the player hate the game. Not really, you can hate me if you want but at least the second chapter is finally here. Enjoy. Sorry for the late, late, late, late update.

**Sidewalks**

Chapter Two

Mint Chocolate Chip

_March 18th, 1987_

Was he shaking? Hand extended in front of him he could see the tremors running through the flesh like worms underneath the skin. His fingers twitched and tensed as if they had minds of their own, despite his desperate attempts to keep his motions in check. Why did his arms feel so heavy? He looked down to see his legs behaving in a similar way, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to remain standing. He needed out, just a few minutes outside. Some fresh air, that's all he needed. This place was smothering him. What they were going to do here would not be forgotten easily.

* * *

It was windy outside, but Mary always claimed that a breeze made a story more dramatic. The gusts shook the foliage above and cast dancing patterns on top of Mary's brown head as she played in the grass. The small girl lay amongst numerous toys on the lawn, two dolls gripped in her hands that she pranced about happily, expressing a pretend adventure of her own making. She spoke loudly for the toys and sometimes even sang, using twigs and grass as props. Blue eyes focused intensely on the scenes that played out before she hardly acknowledged the world around.

From the front porch steps of the house Wendy watched in silence. The teen sat with her legs crossed and a weathered novel gripped tightly in her right hand; chin resting gently in the palm of her left. It was her unspoken duty to supervise Mary on Saturday's and she took up the responsibility without complaint, whether it was at the park or on the front lawn. It was their time to get away from their argumentative parents and find solitude in one another. If her little sister was content playing by herself today Wendy could finish the book she had been working on for the past week. Her dark brown eyes settled onto the words of the page and she resumed reading.

"Wendy," small blue orbs peering over the tip of her novel, fingers curling over her hand. "I'm bored." Guess the reading would have to wait. Wendy folded the corner of her page and set the book down. She glanced down to see Mary rubbing the ears of the stuffed tiger underneath her arm, staring up hopefully.

"Well, is there something you want to go do?" The girl squinted and pondered over her options. After a few beats she smiled and raised her head.

"Can we go get ice cream?" The oldest Jennings delved a slender hand into her pocket and fingered the folded bills that lay there, trying to recall the amount of money she had without stealing a glance. Four dollars.

"… Sure," she stood up, "but only single scoops, okay?" Mary squealed in delight and took a hold of her sister's hand, ready to usher her off the porch steps. "Hang on." Wendy tugged her arm from the grip. "We can go get ice cream but I have to stop by Shutterfield for a few minutes." She turned to slip her bare feet into a pair of sandals when Mary's hand closed around her arm once more.

"Shutterfield? Why?"

"What's with that tone? I thought you liked Shutterfield?" Wendy had volunteered at Shutterfield numerous times before Matt began his weekly rounds. She brought Mary along with her on a few occasions and hadn't seen any signs of negativity towards the place. Then again, she wasn't the best at reading people. She looked down to see her sister's face screwed up as she pondered over what to say.

"It's weird. The people there are strange and it upsets my stomach."

"Only for a few minutes, Mary." The oldest Jennings attempted to convince. "We'll get ice cream and then I'll just stop by. Okay? You can hang out with Allison."

"Can we just not go?"

"Come on, Mary." Said with frustration.

A stubborn pause before:

"Alright, alright." Mary held up her hands in defeat before taking a hold of Wendy's arm and walking forward, her other arm keeping a tight grip on the stuffed tiger. The eldest kissed the top of her little sister's head gently and smiled at the '_bleck_' sound Mary made. It was seven minutes to the ice cream shop and fifteen to Shutterfield. By five minute the siblings were chatting amiably as if there had been no dispute only moments earlier. It was always difficult for either of them to hold a grudge against the other.

Especially on Saturdays.

* * *

"Fudge chocolate or sweet strawberry?"

"Mint chocolate chip."

"Alright." Wendy pointed at the gallon of ice cream as notice for the attendant, laughing quietly to herself. "That's quite a change." She was handed two cones and passed one to her sister before paying. "Fair warning, it tastes like toothpaste."

The only response was a tongue pointed in her direction.

"Let's go." They stepped out of the small sweetshop and back onto the sidewalks, both too entranced with the quickly melting ice cream to engage in any conversation as they walked. The race to catch rivulets of melting chocolate was somewhat entertaining until it made their hands sticky. By the time they reached Shutterfield all that was left of the treats were the soggy bottoms of the waffle shells.

As they neared Mary would glance up anxiously, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her floral shirt and the tiger underneath her arm. The building was still the same; lurid graffiti decorating the usually bleak bricks and wads of gum compressed so far into the cracks of the structure they were probably helping to hold the building up anyway. A loud noise drew Mary's attention away from the monument and over to the back door where a figure had just burst through and now stood hunched over the pavement, retching onto the asphalt with a sickening wet cough.

Wendy wrapped a protective arm around her sister, watching the figure warily as he resumed to empty his stomach. He was skinny and the same height as Matt, but it was the shock of dark hair and bright blue eyes that set him apart. After a few more heaves he wiped his mouth and let out a shaky breath, glancing up to the two girls watching him from a few yards away. His pale skin flushed almost instantly. Wendy stared straight back at him, trying to distinguish him from all the other faces she had seen at Shutterfield. He must have been new, because she couldn't put her finger on a name.

"I'm so sorry." The boy stammered quickly, brushing back his hair with a hand and attempting to straighten his shirt. Wendy never diverted her gaze, keeping her grip on Mary tight.

"'Excuse us." She stepped forward with a fake authority and the boy stepped to the side quickly. Something about him put her on edge, creating a pit in her stomach that twisted into coils and braids. The back door was wedged shut from being opened and closed so furiously and it took a few good yanks for Wendy to open it. She pulled Mary in front of her and ushered her into the building, casting one last glance into the boy's electric eyes before shutting the door.

"Told you we shouldn't have come."

"Oh, hush." Wendy pushed her sister playfully but Mary didn't react, choosing instead to fold her arms and keep her eyes focused on the ground as they walked. Allison stood by one of the serving stations, loading trays with food. Her lips were pulled back in a smile, making her eyes squint and even more wrinkles appear on her already aged face. If anyone could cheer up Mary it was Allison.

"Hello, Wendy!" Allison called out from over the loud bustle of the shelter. "I see you've brought Mary along too! I haven't seen either of you in quite some time." She paused to load a few more trays and push them out onto the counter before stepping out and embracing both Wendy and Mary one after the other.

"Hi, Allison. I came here to get the clothes I left in the back."

"Of course. Your stuff is in Matt's locker, so you're going to have to find him to get it out."

"Okay. Can you watch Mary while I go find him? I've been dragging her around all day." Allison nodded and took Mary's hand to lead her back over to the serving station. After a few jokes and laughs she had Mary smiling and helping just as Wendy had expected. The older sister sighed before turning her gaze over to the dining hall, eyes scanning for her cousin.

It wasn't difficult to spot him. Matt was sitting at one of the long tables with Jamie at his side, both entranced by a game of cards set out before them and two regulars across the table. Jamie was laughing and being boisterous as usual while Matt remained quiet, playing the game in a thoughtful silence as was customary for his personality. Wendy had met Jamie her first day volunteering at Shutterfield. At first she had found the girl abrasive but after a few weeks she warmed to her eccentric tendencies and eventually considered her a friend. Matt's first day the girl had clung to him like a stain on a shirt and ever since then the two were always seen together on Saturdays, whether Matt wanted to have it that way or not. He showed a certain disregard towards Jamie, something Wendy had noted ever since his first day. She brushed the observation aside and made her way over to the table, sliding onto the bench next to Matt.

"Basra?" "Always." Jamie answered for him.

"I need the key to your locker."

"You could at least buy me dinner first." He retorted smartly.

"My clothes are in there, asshole." Wendy punched Matt's arm, surprised when he flinched at the relatively small contact.

"Sorry."

"Just a bit sore. Don't apologize." He laid out the last three cards in his hand before reaching into his pocket. "Here." A key was procured from his pocket and thrown in front of her. She took the object with muttered thanks, stood up from the bench, and trudged through the thinning crowd towards the back. Her eyes moved from person to person until they fell upon the boy she had seen outside. It was subconscious, attempting to find him in the crowd. He stood straight, blue eyes staring straight back at her. Although a tad startled, she continued to walk, bringing her gaze to the floor only to glance up again and again to that stare. An older man stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder, his face unreadable but strangely unsettling. He was looking at her too. The new ones were always the strangest.

A chill breathed at the bottom of Wendy's spine and tickled at the back of her neck by the time she reached the backroom. She opened and closed the door as quickly as she could manage without looking awkward, finally exhaling once she reached Matt's locker. Her hands shook slightly as she inserted the key and they continued to shake as she emptied the clothes into a plastic bag. Her thoughts drifted back to those two faces. There had been such genuine concern shown by the boy with blue eyes, but the older man standing behind had no emotion in his dark, seemingly dead gaze. Such a steep difference bothered her.

A hollow clack brought Wendy's attention to the ground where an empty bottle of Ibuprofen rolled to tap against the bench behind her. She hesitated momentarily before bending down to retrieve it. As she moved to place it back into the locker she noted three more bottles stuffed between the T-shirts. Upon further inspection it was discovered that two were Advil, (one nearly empty) and the last was another Ibuprofen. The bottles were stuffed back into the locker before it was closed with slowly steadying hands. Wendy snatched up her bag of clothes and walked resolutely towards the door.

_"Grab Mary, then go home. That's it." _She steeled herself and pulled quickly on the handle, pushing back any reluctance to see those on the other side of the door. Her eyes stayed focused on her feet as she stepped into the main hall and made her way back over to where Matt was sitting. Sliding onto the bench she placed the key in front of him before gently tugging on his shirt so that he leaned over for her to speak into his hear. It was something he had learned to do after years of their passing secrets.

"Can I talk to you later? It's important."

"Yeah. Tonight." He said before pulling back. Jamie leaned in closer with an inquisitive look and the conversation ended there. Wendy smiled at her and stood, patting Matt on the shoulder.

See you two later." She smiled, tossing the bag of clothes over her shoulder before setting off to find where Allison and Mary had disappeared off to.

She found them still at the serving station, playing their favorite game now that the morning rush had died down.

"Platypus.

"Autumn."

"A dress."

"Grass!" It was a ridiculous game they had introduced several months ago. The idea was to continue spouting nonsensical words that didn't relate in any way to the word that the other person had said. Once Wendy's presence was made known they slowed the pace of the game before stopping completely after a few quick and clever words.

"Thank you for watching her, Allison." Wendy said, grabbing onto Mary's shoulder as the younger girl came to stand in front of her sister.

"It's nothing. I love visiting with her." She paused, looking at the siblings thoughtfully. "When do you think you two will be back?"

"Oh, I don't know." Wendy opened her mouth to continue but her gaze shifted and met with the emotionless countenance of the older man she had seen earlier. He had his hand on the shoulder of the young boy with blue eyes, imitating the way Wendy kept Mary close. The boy watched her with genuine concern in his features. He nervously stole a glance at the older man behind him before looking back at her, mouthing four words towards Wendy she could hardly distinguish. She looked back at Allison, smiling apologetically for the lapse in her attention.

"… Probably not for a while." Allison nodded understandingly. She hugged each of the sisters goodbye before leading them towards the back door. Wendy said thank you once more before stepping out of the building, an inexplicable relief washing over her as the door closed behind. She let go of Mary's shoulders and the two trudged down the sidewalks back towards home. Mary, relieved as well to be out of Shutterfield, chatted amiably as they walked but Wendy wasn't listening. She rubbed her hands together nervously, pondering over those four words mouthed at her from across the room and hoping that maybe she had just deciphered them wrong.

"... Wendy?"

"Yes, Mary?"

"Don't let me get that toothpaste ice-cream ever again."

"Told you."


End file.
